Walk through the streets of Mali's capitol, Bamako, and you're sure to
hear Radio Bamakan wafting out of stores, homes and vehicles. Mali's
first community radio station is also the most popular radio station in
Bamako.

Its popularity is due to the fact that Radio Bamakan broadcasts most of
its programming in national languages, and to the quality of its shows.
According to Program Director Mohamadou Cisse, "We put a lot of
importance on professional work. By professionalism I mean to take into
account time constraints, the social context in which we are working,
and an understanding of the listeners." Radio Bamakan went on-air
officially in September of 1991. The equipment to get the station
running was provided by an Italian NGO, Tierra Nova, but Radio Bamakan
found itself in the red before it could even get an operational budget
together. It experienced some very difficult financial times, going into
debt to install its equipment and conduct technical tests.

Radio Bamakan is no longer looking through its pockets for spare change;
it is now financially secure, and the station is content with its modest
budget and expenditures. A recent grant from Oxfam America, for example,
is being carefully spent on a second studio; the rest of the money will
be put into a station fund and kept on reserve for hard times.

It is this type of pragmatism and self-assurance that has made Radio
Bamakan so successful. The station is well-aware of the role it plays in
defending Mali's new-found democracy and freedom of the press, initiated
just over two years ago, on March 26, 1991. That date marked the ousting
of the military dictatorship which ruled the country for 23 years.

According to Cisse, Mali's democracy is being consolidated and is still
very fragile. As such, "The role of Radio Bamakan is to struggle
positively in favor of the democratic process; to defend democracy and
serve the population. There are a lot of aspects of democracy that the
people don't know about, and we are obliged to raise awareness, to
explain that democracy is not anarchy; that democracy involves rights
and obligations. We have the right to demand, but we also have
obligations to the state.

"On a political level, we have the right to receive whoever we want in
our studios. We have the right to criticize what we want. We can say
that freedom of the press exists in Mali now," says Cisse.

There are six independent radio stations - three community and three
commercial - broadcasting in Bamako. In its early days, Radio Bamakan
had to fight for the legalization of community radio, however, Cisse is
confident that the new government will not act to close down the
independent stations, because of the level of popular support.

Nor does he feel that Radio Bamakan is threatened by the establishment
of commercial radio stations, as they do not broadcast in Mali's
national languages.

Freedom of the press has also brought foreign-owned radio channels to
Mali; stations such as the French owned Radio France-Inter.

Cisse explains, "from a strictly professional point of view, competition
with Radio France-Inter doesn't worry me, because I know they can't take
our listeners away. The oral tradition is very strong in Africa and a
lot of people don't speak French. We at Radio Bamakan speak in a
language they understand. Where I am against these stations, is that
they represent cultural colonialism. The French are experimenting with a
new form of intervention in Africa, through the airwaves of Radio
France-Inter."

In the meantime, Radio Bamakan remains dedicated to fulfilling its role
of presenting a wide range of issues to Bamako's diverse population.
Cisse states, "Before there was only the state radio, but now other
visions are needed. There's no longer a monopolization of information.
State radio can speak in the name of the government, while free radio
can speak in the name of the population, of independent people."